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Monday, November 4, 2013

Dead Man Talking, Literally

Caleb Trask

Genealogy tip for today: Dead Men Talking, Literally

Have you seen the TV show of a lady that lives on an island in New York
City (!) who speaks to the dead? I have watched it from time to time, altho'
(disclaimer) I have to say that I neither endorse nor am even sure she really
does do what she says. But it does make for an interesting show.

However, I have sometimes wished I could literally talk to a few dead
ancestors! I have one 'nemesis' in particular to whom I wish I could speak. He
is my great-great-grandfather, Caleb Trask, above. I have spoken of him before. (Preponderance
of Evidence) He must have been a man of few words as he never happen
to mention, or refused (no one knows) to pass on the names of his father and
his mother. (Notice is square chin, usually a sign of determination.) I've wondered what his personality was like and what his childhood
was like. Did his father leave unhappy memories? According to oral family
history, his mother died when he was a teenager. His father disappears off the scene when he was 10. He could have at least
mentioned her, for pity sake!! It has been said where she is buried - town
wise, but the grave has never been found in recent times.

Again according to oral history he had 3 brothers and a sister. Apparently
even their descendants were not given the names of the grandparents. I say that, but
on the other hand there is an application to SAR (Sons of the Revolution) where
a nephew of Caleb's joined. It listed the right parents (as found also in
census records), but according to him, Noah Trask was his grandfather - which should be Caleb's parents. (Again -
discussed in Preponderance of Evidence.) I have pretty much disproved that
assumption, at least so far. But all it would take is one little ole obscure
piece of paper to disprove it. So far it has eluded me.

I visited Caleb's grave one time, thrilled that I found it, and stood
there carrying on a one-sided conversation with him in my head. (If I had done
this out loud my kids probably would have thought I was nuts!) I had the
impression he was telling me 'keep looking, you'll find them.' Now that
was about 1995 or 1996 - somewhere in the nineties, about 20 years ago.

Now really! Do you think I heard from ole Caleb? I couldn't tell you.
What he "said" I'm sure is very well true. But notice he didn't say when!
It could be that he meant I would find out when I joined him in the great
beyond. But what good does that do me now? And did he really say anything to me
in the first place, or was that wishful thinking on my behalf?

I don't know; it’s fun talking about it. And I'm not here to promote or
deny the veracity of mediums or the talking to the dead. But just
think how much easier genealogy could be if dead men really could talk!!

If any of these posts are helpful drop us a line in
the comments section below. We just want to know if the information we provide
to you is helpful in anyway.

From the main Confederate Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee,
Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's troops are sent northeast to besiege Knoxville.

1918

Austria signs an armistice with the Allies.

1922

The U.S. Postmaster General orders all homes to get
mailboxes or relinquish delivery of mail.

1922

The entrance to King Tut's tomb is discovered.

1924

Calvin Coolidge is elected 30th president of the United
States.

1924

Nellie Tayloe Ross and Miriam Ferguson are elected first
and second women governors (Wyoming and Texas).

1946

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) is established.

1952

General Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected 34th president of
the United States.

1956

Russian troops attack Budapest, Hungary.

1979

At the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, 90 people,
including 63 Americans, are taken hostage by militant student followers of
Ayatollah Khomeini. The students demand the return of Shah Mohammad Reza
Pablavi, who is undergoing medical treatment in New York City.

1980

Ronald Reagan is elected the 40th president of the United
States.

1992

Carol Moseley Braun becomes the first African American
woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois elected 44th president of
the United States, the first African American to hold that position.

﻿

William III, Prince of Orange/King of England, Scotland and Ireland

Birthdays today

1650

William III, Prince of Orange, later King of England,
Scotland and Ireland.

1879

Will Rogers, American actor and writer.

1916

Walter Cronkite, reporter and news anchor for CBS News;
dubbed "The Most Trusted Man in America."

1916

John Basilone, US Marine who received the Medal of Honor
for his actions in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

1916

Ruth Handler, businesswoman, toy designer who co-founded
Mattel with her husband and created the Barbie doll.

1918

Art Carney, actor; best known for playing Ed Norton,
sidekick to Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden on the TV series The
Honeymooners, he received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his
starring role in the film Harry and Tonto.

1923

Eugene
Sledge, US Marine, famous for his memoir of the fighting in the Pacific
Theater, With the Old Breed.

1933

Sir Charles Kuen Kao, Chinese-born physicist known as the
"Father of Fiber Optics" and the "Godfather of
Broadband"; he shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics.

1946

Laura Welch Bush, wife of US President George W. Bush, she
served as First Lady from 2001 to 2009; she used her position to champion education
and literacy.

1961

Jeff Probst, game show host and executive producer, best
known as the host of the US version the reality show Survivor.

1969

Sean Combs, rapper, record producer, actor; at various times
used the stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy. He won three Grammys and
two MTV Video Music Awards.

In
general, plan for:
8-10 lb goose for 5-6 people
11-12 lb goose for 6-8 people

Method

To
start, if the goose has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before
cooking. Keep it in its plastic wrapping until you are ready to cook it. While
in the refrigerator, and or while you are bringing it to room temp, have the
bird resting in a pan, so that if the plastic covering leaks for any reason,
you are confining the juices to the pan. If you get a frozen goose, which is
most likely the case, you will need to defrost it in the refrigerator for two
days first.

While
I have never found any instances of food poisoning from raw duck or goose, it’s
best to handle the goose with common sense. Use a separate cutting board and
utensils to avoid contaminating other foods. Wash your hands with soap
frequently – if for no other reason than because geese are fatty and you don’t
want to be walking around with greasy hands. Use paper towels to clean up.

Remove the neck, giblets, wing tips

Remove
the neck and giblets (heart, gizzard, liver). Use them for making the gravy.
You want to remove the last two joints of the wings, too, and use them for the
gravy as well.

To
do this, use a thin sharp knife – a boning knife is ideal, or you could use a
paring knife or fillet knife – and cut across the side of the joint, severing
the tendons. Bend the joint the opposite way it is supposed to go to break it.
Cut the remaining skin and tendons. You should not need to cut bone at all.

Slice
off the neck skin about a half inch in front of the body.

Remove the excess fat

You
also need to remove excess fat from the goose. You will want to save it – goose
fat is among the most delicious of all cooking fats, and it is far healthier
than butter or lard.

First
grab the fat inside the body cavity and put it in a bowl. Now slice off the
wide belly flaps covering the body cavity; if you plan on stuffing the goose
you’d need these, but we’re not, so out they go. You also want to remove the
Pope’s nose, which is the goose’s tail. All of this should go into a pot with a
little water (about ½ cup) and put over low heat to render out.

Prick the goose's skin all over with a needle

You
still need to give all that fat underneath the goose’s skin somewhere to go –
if you don’t, the skin will never fully crisp up. I’ve found the best way to do
this is to prick it with a clean needle. The technique is to stick the skin
from an angle so you are not piercing the meat of the goose, just the skin. Do
this all over the goose.

Season the goose and place in the oven

Preheat
the oven to 325 degrees F.

Rub
the goose all over with the cut half of a lemon. Use both sides to get it good
and coated. Put the halves inside the goose. Sprinkle salt liberally all over
the goose. Use more salt than you think you need; it helps crisp the skin and
adds a lot to the flavor.

Slice
off the top of a head of garlic and place it inside the goose.

Place
the goose breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan and into the oven.

Start the gravy

Meanwhile,
start the gravy. Chop and brown all the giblets, wings and neck in some goose
fat in a large pan. Sprinkle salt over them. Add the chopped onion and stir to
combine. When the onion gets a little browned, sprinkle the flour in the pot
and stir to combine. Cook this over medium heat, stirring often, until it
smells nutty – about 5-10 minutes. Turn the heat up to high and add the
Madeira. Let this boil furiously for a minute or two, then add the chicken
stock and stir to combine. Add the dried thyme. Turn the gravy down to a bare
simmer.

Add root vegetables to the roasting pan

After
the goose has cooked for 20 minutes, add any chunks of root veggies you might
feel like using. I like a mix of potatoes, turnips, carrots and parsnips.
Here’s a tip: Toss them in some rendered goose fat and salt them before placing
in the bottom of the roasting pan.

You
can also use this time as an opportunity to spoon out some of the goose fat
that may be collecting in the bottom of the roasting pan. Put it in the pot
with the rendering goose fat.

When
you’re done, put the goose back into the oven for another 25 minutes.

Carve out the breasts

When
a total of 45 minutes of cooking time has elapsed, test the temperature of the
breast. You should have something between 130 and 140 degrees. If you’re there,
remove the goose but keep the oven on.

Now
you need to carve off the whole breasts. Using a thin knife – again, a boning
knife is ideal – slice along the keel bone, which separates the two halves of
the breast. Go straight down and tap the point of the blade against the
breastbone as you move the knife up toward the wishbone, then back toward the
open body cavity. Know that a goose has a deep keel and that the breastbone
comes out wide at almost a right angle from it, so work your knife in short,
gentle strokes out to free the whole side of the breast. Once you get near the
wishbone, find it with the tip of your knife and carefully slice around it.
Repeat on the other side.

Remove
the breasts and tent with foil.

Finish cooking the rest of the goose

Put
the goose (minus the breasts) back into the oven. Let this cook for another 45
minutes.

Watch the goose gravy. If it gets too thick, add a little water.

After
the additional 45 minutes are up, probe the thickest part of the goose’s thigh
with a thermometer. You want 165-175 degrees. If it is a little low or high,
that’s fine. Remove the goose. Check the root veggies, and if they are done,
great. If not, keep them in the oven for the moment.

Remove
the garlic from the goose. Tent the goose with foil and set aside.

Finish the gravy

Remove
the garlic cloves from the husk and put the cloves into the simmering goose
gravy. Let this cook for 5 minutes. Fish out the neck and wing pieces and pick
off any bits and toss them into the gravy. Pour the gravy into a blender and
buzz the hell out of it – you might need to do this in batches to avoid it
spurting out of your blender. You want a thick gravy, so if it is too thick add
water. If it’s too thin, don’t worry, you can cook it down.

Return
the gravy to the pot and put on low heat. Simmer it more if it is too thin.

Sear the breasts

Now
get a large sauté pan hot. Add some goose fat, and let that get hot over
medium-high heat.

Take
the goose breasts, which should be a lovely pink on the meat side, and pat them
dry. Place them skin side down in the pan and sear the skin hard. You might
need to press down on them a little to get good contact. Check after 3-4
minutes. You want a rich brown.

When
it is ready, remove the breasts – don’t cook them on the meat side! – and
immediately salt the skin. Set aside, skin side up. Move the pan off the heat.

Carve off the legs and wings, and sear

Carve
off the legs and wings of the goose. Get the pan hot again and sear the skin
surfaces of the legs and wings. While this is searing, slice the breast (at an
angle is nice) skin side up. Salt the legs and wings and serve with the root
veggies.

Now
remember: You have worked hard to get a good sear on your goose skin, so put
your lovely gravy underneath the meat, not on top of the skin.

Save bones for stock

When
you are finished with your goose, save the bones from the carcass to make goose
stock, which is just like chicken stock, only with goose bones.